East Earl Township, Lancaster County Pennsylvania, ..... where Heritage is Growing

Firefighters reach out using Video

Published on 25 June 2018.

Lancaster County Firefighters are Using Video Message to Reach Prospective Volunteers

On-camera interviews highlight the need for more volunteers and the adrenaline, camaraderie, and overall satisfaction of being a volunteer firefighter

Lancaster County, PA: The men and women who volunteer with local fire companies can’t personally tell every Lancaster County resident about the need for more volunteers and the amazing experiences that volunteering offers, so they’re doing the next best thing.

As part of an on-going county-wide recruitment effort, volunteers speak about their lives as volunteer firefighters and rescuers in two new videos.

“No one can describe the amazing, exciting, and rewarding experience of serving your neighbors in such a vital role better than those who do it,” said Lancaster County Fire Chiefs Association Recruitment and Retention Committee Spokesman Duane Hagelgans. This makes the videos, which have been shared via YouTube and Facebook, an extremely important part of the Association’s ongoing volunteer recruitment campaign, he said. Watch the new videos here: https://youtu.be/Ls0XasPLr4Y and here: https://youtu.be/MLPB5V50w-g

Tracy Tomlinson, 51, is one of the firefighters who took part in the video project. Just 16 when he followed his dad into the fire service, Tomlinson volunteers at both Robert Fulton Fire Company in Peach Bottom, where he was chief from 2013 through 2017, and Quarryville Fire Company.

“A lot of times, it is an adrenaline rush,” he said. But firefighting is way more than that to Tomlinson. “Everybody needs help now and then,” he said. “I think it’s a big, important thing to get out there and help others when you can give the help.”

The video project is already having an impact: Since they debuted, numerous people have contacted the Association about their interest in volunteering in a variety of capacities through the association website.

The fact that there are so many emergency and non-emergency roles available are a key component of the videos’ message. “Providing medical treatment, putting out fires, or finding someone who is lost are all incredibly important jobs,” Hagelgans said. “But so too are educating children and adults on fire prevention and safety, tending to the business of administratively running the station, holding fundraisers, directing traffic at accident scenes, and many other tasks that county residents may not realize need to be filled.”